Saints tress is a relic of Lumen, the affinity of order, law, light and protection. It holds an old piece of Covenant-stuff, the substance of the Seal-shards, bound into a braided lock, and its treasure spirit answers to Wefan, the Weaver.
It guards in two ways. While it is held, its holder's kingdom resists spells of every affinity a little more. And before each battle it burns the restless dead in the enemy's army with holy light. Those dead are the natives' dead, stranded at Deopa's threshold since the Breaking and raised on borrowed life by Umbra. What the tress burns is unmade, and its remnant falls back to the threshold to wait.
Heaven counts the tress in its holder's Weight, so the Law of Equals sets that kingdom among heavier rivals, and a conqueror can carry it off as spoils.
No one knows who made it. The songs of the Human lineages say it was cut from a native woman who lived before the Breaking, in the first age, when the dead still went down through Deopa and lost their shapes cleanly. She never lodged at the threshold, they say, and that is why the stranded dead cannot bear her. That is a belief. The record names no saint.
Tellan, the Keeper of Tallies keeps it among the Mnemoliths between Turnings. There is one in each Turning, and if it is lost, its shard returns to his keeping for the recasting.
Player-visible facts
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | Permanent |
| Battle item | No |